Hi all,
Not more than a week ago, I discovered Ottoneu. Well, that’s not true, I’ve been coming to Fangraphs for years and I’ve always seen the Ottoneu tab atop the page; I figured it was yet another projection model.
Anyhow, I’ve been running a big money re-draft league through ESPN since 2009. Over the years, the league size and the scoring format has been in a state of flux. I am in the process of setting up the league for another go but I’ve been so tempted to migrate over to Ottoneu, perhaps taking 2 to 4 of the most serious managers with me.
Now I (and one of the guys I’d bring with me) are one league guys. So, it’s either the old ESPN league or Otto. Maybe it would be best I end my monogamy and give Otto a whirl while maintaining the long standing re-draft league.
I have more questions than space here to ask them but I’ll begin:
— Since much of the fun of Otto is contingent upon having an active, engaged league, how common is it for dead managers to spoil the experience? Absent of the non-compelling keeper settings offered by ESPN, a big reason why I have never opted to my league into a dynasty or keeper league is because it is hard to maintain the same group of guys year in and year out. There have been a few guys who have been participating for much of the league’s existence, but only me and perhaps another guy have played every single year. In 2013 I recruited a very active and outspoken manager. He won my league in 2014. He was a strong manager for years, then, out of the blue, went dead and I haven’t heard from him since.
— Another question I’ll ask now is if independent prize pools are condoned? Like do $9.99 tier leagues establish their own prize pools? If so, can they be open about it? I ask because if I joined (or created) a great entry tier league, I may like to play for higher stakes with the same league in subsequent seasons.
That’s it for now, I don’t want to ramble on. If possible, I’d like some unbiased opinions about what I should do this year.
Thanks!
Dan
Here’s a good article from @OttoneuTrades on why so many are moving to Ottoneu. Maybe a good article to send your friends. As far as recruiting active owners to join, this community and the group on Slack is a good place to start. Pretty much everyone here is engaged, and I know there is a whole set of @Ottoneu101 beginners probably still looking to fill leagues too.
Here’ the article: http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/why-you-should-play-ottoneu/
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If you’d like to change the format to a prize tier in later years you can email Niv and he will change it.
Personally, I don’t like having independent prize pools for a couple of reasons. First, the consumeristic reason, I want Ottoneu to grow. I work for a startup and the only way a startup can truly succeed is through capital, so I’d rather pay the extra cash to an enterprise that provides something I take great enjoyment in and invest a ton of time in. Second, there is no oversight. I was in a league with a bunch of friends where we paid the $9.99 to Ottoneu and then had a $600 independent pool. In August there was a giant meltdown by 3 owners including the commissioner. I won the league and only ever got my $50 back. I won that same league the year before and it took 2 months to get my money. Again, I’d much rather pay the juice to Ottoneu so that I can be certain I will get my winnings and get them in a timely manner.
Yes, I agree with you, like you, I want Ottoneu to grow. For this reason, I am eager to support the service. As Ottoneu collects $120 from every 1st tier league, this is pretty much a “have your cake and eat it too” scenario: support Ottoneu with the freedom to determine a buy-in and how the money be distributed.
As for your experiences of not getting paid or getting paid slowly, it sounds like you should play with other people. I have run a re-draft league on ESPN for the past 9 seasons and I have always promptly paid out my winners.
In spite of everything I’ve said, at the end of the day, I’d probably elect to play the 2nd or 3rd tier and not bother with a side pool.